Mortgage sales in February at 8 year high

Fresh research from Equifax Touchstone has shown that mortgage sales surpassed expectation in February.

Residential and buy-to-let sales reached 16.6bn in the last month, an increase of 39% from January.

Buy-to-let boom

Buy-to-let mortgage agreements surged by 40.3% during February, while residential sales surges by 38.6%. Year-on-year, buy-to-let and residential sales were 52.9% and 30.4% respectively. This information for landlords will come as little shock, with many looking to invest before the stamp duty changes come into force on April 1st.

By area, sales figures increased in every area, with London seeing the biggest rises, up 50.6% on January. The rest of the country followed suit, with mortgage sales in the North West, Scotland and Northern Ireland all increasing by more than 40%.

The total mortgage sales growth by region in February is indicated in the table below:

[1]

Averages

Further data from the report indicates that the average value of a residential mortgage in the last month was £192,568. Average buy-to-let mortgages were lower at £151,491.

Iain Hill, Relationship Manager at Equifax Touchstone, said, ‘with the impending changes in stamp duty on buy-to-let property, we expected buy-to-let sales to jump in February. However, the residential figures have taken many market participants by surprise, also rising sharply and resulting in the highest month for mortgage sales since the 2008 market crash. We expect sales volumes to remain strong in March and it will be interesting to see if the market can cope with the inevitable pressures that come with the increased demand.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/february-mortgage-sales-at-highest-for-8-years.html